Me Plus You
by ReneyyySprouse
Summary: One boy plus one girl in the need to subtract one very unfavourable ghost from the past can quickly multiply to equal more trouble than either of them ever counted on. Two-shot. Stendy.
1. Part I

_**Me Plus You.  
** Part I_

 _-x-_

Wendy's brain was ticking over at about a million miles an hour. Just as she could almost swear that her head was going to absolutely implode, the high school senior suddenly widened her brown orbs in realisation. Slapping her hand down on the red buzzer as hard as she could, Wendy licked her bottom lip.

"Four cubed minus pi over six?"

As her math teacher nodded her head in confirmation, an eighteen year old Wendy Testaburger sensed her grin grow across her cheeks.

"Well done, Wendy," Ms. Coleman praised her twelfth grade student, "Another correct answer, and in record time, too."

Still smiling to herself, Wendy glanced around at the rest of her high school Mathletics team where they stood on the stage next to her in the school gym.

"W-wow, Wendy," Butters stuttered out, nervously knocking his knuckles together, "You sure have been studying, huh?"

"Yeah, go Wendy!" tenth grader Dougie offered lamely from the end of their team's podium.

"You can say that again," Token added from right beside his team captain, "We're gonna' totally cream all those other loser schools in the semis."

Laughing along with Token as the two swapped an eager high-five, all the excitable commotion was suddenly brought to a halt as Ms. Coleman cleared her throat, "Okay, let's just not get too ahead of ourselves, shall we? I believe we're going to be faced with some very formidable competition this afternoon."

Wendy's advance placement math teacher was an older, shorter woman. Her matted mess of graying hair was tied up on top of her head and she wore a small pair of glasses right on the end of her nose. But she was one of the teachers that Wendy got along with more so than most others, and she had certainly proved herself a phenomenal coach for South Park's Mathletics team.

"Now, go and enjoy the last few minutes of your recess. Our first round of the semi-finals is during lunch break, so make sure none of you are late."

Shooting her ever-beaming grin at their teacher, Wendy firmly nodded her head, "Thanks, Miss," she spoke before quickly glancing over at Token, "I'll bring my flashcards in our free period."

As Butters and Dougie climbed down from the stage and headed towards the exit, Token was right behind them while he called back to Wendy, "Sounds good. Cya' then."

Descending the first step for herself, Wendy looked back to Ms. Coleman with final glance of confidence. The two competitors' podiums were sitting side-by-side on the stage and the shiny, red buzzers stared back at Wendy invitingly as she made her way across the wooden floor in search of her girlfriends while she still had some recess time left.

The eighteen year old girl reached back and tightened the elastic around her long, black ponytail and adjusted the green bow in her hair. Wendy was feeling pretty proud of herself and her team. South Park had done an amazing job of gliding through the Mathletics competition throughout the year, and now their school were playing host to the regional semi-finals.

And if she was being honest, she sort of liked their chances of taking out the whole damn thing. Token was one of the smartest guys in the entire school, only second to Dougie who was a complete brainiac and absolutely incredible for just sixteen years old, and Butters was improving by leaps and bounds every day, too.

As these blissful thoughts continued to dance across her mind, Wendy's eyes slowly drifted over towards one of the entry ways to the gym. It looked like some of the competitors from the other schools were beginning to arrive. The teenage girl narrowed her curious vision. She wasn't completely certain of all the schools that would be taking part in the first round of semi-finals that afternoon, but before she could investigate quite as much as she would have liked, Wendy abruptly felt herself jump at the sound of her name.

"Wendy?" she heard again, "Wendy Testaburger?"

Twirling around on the spot, Wendy was frozen with confusion for a split second before the tall figure, blonde curly hair, and slight British accent suddenly registered in her memory.

"Gregory?" she exclaimed in surprise, "Gregory, oh my God, hey."

The closer she walked towards him, the more Gregory's charming smile became completely unmistakable to her. The former South Park boy's hair was still styled to perfection on top of his head, and he wore a maroon coloured blazer and long, black trousers. He had shortly transferred back to his old school of Yardale following his quick stint at South Park elementary all those years ago in the third grade. It all felt like an absolute lifetime ago to Wendy.

"It's been forever," she spoke with an exasperated giggle, offering her old friend a quick, innocent hug.

"Indeed it has," Gregory agreed, returning the friendly sentiment. In the next second, he held Wendy out at arm's length, keeping his hands glued to her shoulders for only half a second before allowing them to fall back to his side, "You're still as lovely as ever."

Feigning the faintest possible pink blush in her cheeks, Wendy briskly shook off the compliment and casually folded her arms over her chest, "I didn't know Yardale was in this competition. You're on your school Mathletics team?"

"That I am," he confirmed, gesturing to the embroidered Yardale Mathletes team logo on his blazer, "But don't suspect for a second that I'm going to go easy on you."

Awkwardly tensing her shoulders and laughing slightly at his joke, Wendy subtly glanced down to her own uniform. South Park had just managed to afford some basic, custom made polo shirts for their team. But still, it was better than nothing, and the bright, green team logo sewn into her shirt made Wendy hold her head high as she licked her lips and quickly changed the subject.

"Well, hey, I've got a class to get to in a few minutes, but if you need a tour guide later, I might be free?"

Gregory raised an eyebrow at the seemingly nonchalant offer from the teenage girl. Wendy certainly did look as gorgeous as he remembered her to be - almost as gorgeous as the adorable little eight year old he had first been so infatuated with a decade ago. He took one small step closer to Wendy, grinning down at her as he did.

"Sounds wonderful," he spoke sounding rather impressed as he took a short second to chuckle under his breath, "Perhaps we can use this to make amends for that awful slur you shouted at me during our last encounter all those years ago."

For a sharp moment, Wendy frowned in slight confusion. But then, as she suddenly remembered how her eight year old self had ultimately told Gregory to "get lost" with the use of some much ruder terminology, the dark haired girl felt her vision widen.

"Oh, come on, that was so long ago now, we were only kids," she argued with an embarrassed giggle, "We're all much more mature around here these days, I guarantee it."

Before the promising statement had even completely left her lips, Wendy and Gregory's pleasant catch-up was abruptly shattered by the sound of some excitably heavy footsteps rushing right towards them.

"Wendy, oh my God, Kenny just made me laugh so hard that milk came out of my nose, wanna' see?!"

Cringing slightly at the childish words that were an incredible contradiction to what she had just told Gregory, Wendy slowly spun around on the spot and gazed up at the tall figure behind her in the red poofball hat.

With a half-empty milk box in one hand and his schoolbag lazily slung over his opposite shoulder, eighteen year old Stan Marsh smiled down at Wendy as he waited for her to answer him. When the silence from her only carried along, Stan quickly saw that not only was he interrupting the teenage girl from a conversation she was having, but he also realised exactly _who_ she happened to be having that conversation with.

Taking a step towards the school quarterback, Wendy gestured back towards Gregory, "Uh, Stan, you remember Gregory from third grade?"

Swapping roles for the second introduction, Wendy directed Gregory's attention towards Stan. She gently took a hand to the dark haired boy's arm for a short second, giving it a tight squeeze, "Gregory, you remember my boyfriend Stan?"

Almost instantly, the two young men were locked in a vicious stare down with one another. Stan was stunned and completely speechless. He didn't have the first clue what to say or how to react to this unfavourable ghost of the past. But Gregory, on the other hand, wasn't feeling so uncertain. The Yardale boy had one precise thought on the forefront of his mind telling him exactly what he wanted to say.

"Boyfriend?" he repeated cynically, "How very interesting. And here I was thinking you two were just stuck in a silly little childhood romance that was only going to eventually fizzle out."

Stan immediately felt his chest clench up.

"Sorry, dude. No fizzling here."

"Oh, I see. So, you two have been dating consistently for ten years, then, hm?"

In a moment of stubborn regret, Stan silently gritted his teeth together. 'Consistency' was one notion that Stan and Wendy had definitely been lacking for a previous number of years throughout their epic romance.

Since they had been those two innocent, little eight year olds who had first fallen head over heels for each other, Wendy and Stan had been on and off with their relationship like a light switch. But as many times as they may have drifted apart, their insane love for one another never truly faded away.

It wasn't until a few years ago once they had properly settled into their freshman year that they also happened to settle more permanently with one another. And since then, they hadn't broken up and gotten back together ever again - not once.

They were finally, completely serious about one another. And finally, they were happy.

Sensing the awkwardness begin to build all around them, Wendy quickly decided to switch subjects again, "Gregory's on his school Mathletics team," she spat out lamely in Stan's direction, "Yardale made it to regional semis, too."

"Ha!" Stan exclaimed with a laugh. He took a purposeful hold of Wendy's waist and yanked her in towards him, staring directly at Gregory as he did, "Well, too bad for Yardale and every other shitty school here that they can't even begin to compare with the smartest, most brilliant girl the entire mountains has to offer, right, babe?"

Wendy felt like she had almost been pulled right out of her own skin by Stan's attempt at brutish male dominance. Uttering a nervous laugh, the teenage girl loosely wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's back, too, while trying her very best to stop him from spilling his milk box all over her.

"Oh, believe me, I don't doubt Wendy's expertise for a second," Gregory spoke, raising a daring eyebrow, "That's why she's offered to show me around your humble, little school later, isn't that right, Wendy?"

As the smug expression fell from his face, Stan tightened his grip on his girlfriend and blew out a subtle sigh of relief as Gregory finally looked to be strolling away to catch up with the rest of his classmates. But not before he had the chance to bid Wendy a proper farewell, of course.

Reaching for the gorgeous teenager's hand, Gregory pecked at the back of it with a quick, chaste kiss. And instantly, Stan felt his blood boil.

"Until this afternoon, then, Miss Testaburger."

Using the dumbfounded moment in time to make a quick exit before Stan could expel any of the fury building behind his crystal blue eyes, just like that, Gregory was gone. Giggling quietly to herself, Wendy simply shook her head back and forth, catching Stan's attention.

"Dude, what the hell was that?" he sniped.

"Easy there, Romeo," Wendy sung sarcastically, finally shrugging out of Stan's over-protective grip on her, "He was just being a gentleman - you should try it sometime."

The continued teasing tone from his girlfriend was not making Stan feel any less ticked off, "You're not really gonna' show him around later, are you?"

Frowning at him slightly, Wendy allowed her voice to soften, "Does it really bother you that much?"

"No duh," Stan instantly snapped back, "He's still totally interested in you."

"And when have _I_ ever been interested in _him_?"

Scoffing out loud at these words, Stan's memory was immediately flooded with images of eight year old Wendy skating around Stark's Pond with the posh little blonde turd by her side. As he opened his mouth to speak, though, the teenage girl quickly cut him off.

" - _And_ I only mean in the past three or four years when it would actually matter to our relationship?"

Skidding into silence, Stan was frozen for a second before he hopelessly shrugged his shoulders. Wendy hadn't even seen Gregory for at least a decade - how could she possibly know whether she ever would have fallen for him again?

"He's just a creep, okay?" Stan said, continuing to argue his point, "I don't trust the guy."

"I hang around with the guys on my math team all the time, you don't have a problem with any of them?"

"Well, yeah," Stan laughed, "Because one of them's a geeky little sophomore, one of them's Butters, and Token's dating Nichole."

"Mm, but if Token and Nichole were to ever break up..."

"Dude!"

"I'm kidding!" Wendy exclaimed with a loud giggle. She crept closer towards her boyfriend, reaching down for Stan's hand and squeezing apologetically, "I'm totally kidding."

She gazed up at him, mirroring her eyes with his and lacing their fingers together even tighter, "If you don't want me to show him around, I won't show him around," she announced, finally catching a smile in the corner of his mouth, "Can you just do me a favour and try to relax? I'm already stressed enough about this competition as it is."

Carefully listening to every word she spoke, Stan sighed mutely to himself as he nodded his head. His beaming little smirk only continued to grow as Wendy suddenly snatched his milk box out of his hand and took an adorably small sip out of it.

In a moment where he wanted to make absolutely sure that they had made up with one another, Stan let go of Wendy's hand and instead went to pull her in for a hug, until the sound of the bell ringing throughout the gym made the both of them jump in surprise.

Looking back to him as she wiped her milk moustache from her top lip, Wendy eased out a soft breath. So much for getting to catch up with the girls before recess was over. But then, on the other hand, any time spent with Stan was welcomed - even when all they were doing was sniping at each other. Every second with him was worth it.

"I've got history. I'll catch up with you in our free, okay?"

Handing his carton of milk back him, Wendy watched with an infatuated grin as Stan only nodded once more with a near silent "'kay". He worried too much. _Far_ too much.

Standing up on her toes, Wendy took her gentle hand to the back of Stan's neck as she leaned in and sweetly kissed his lips. Immediately feeling his eyes close blissfully shut, Stan simply melted into the exchange, his skin popping with goosebumps at the familiar taste of his girlfriend. After a few spine-tingling seconds, Wendy slowly pulled back, brushing her nose up against Stan's and whispering to him as she did.

"Love you."

Stan's heart was booming in his chest. He dropped his hand from where it had found her waist as he finally allowed Wendy to leave, the smile never falling from his face, "Love you."

Sharing one last second of pure adoration with him, Wendy then spun around on the spot and quickly scurried off towards her twelfth grade history class. Stan watched her for a couple of tender moments, smirking at her perfect hips swinging from side to side in her high-waisted, black skirt. Soon enough, the teenage boy about faced and began to head off in the opposite direction towards his own class.

Wendy really was amazing, Stan thought to himself. And not just because of her brains and her beauty. But because of the way she _always_ assured him that she truly only had eyes for him.

* * *

Squinting her eyes and chewing down on her bottom lip as she wracked her brain for the right answer, Wendy suddenly clicked as she flipped over her flashcard. Smiling to herself, Wendy felt her chest swell with pride. Another correct answer.

Making a quick note in her binder where she sat in the senior's area of the school library, Wendy reached for her next flashcard before he eyes darted upwards at the appearance of Stan heading down the gray carpeted stairs. Man, she loved having free periods with him.

"Hey! Quick, come down here and quiz me!"

Smirking at her cheekily, Stan shuffled past some of his other senior classmates studying quietly and then pulled out the chair at the desk beside Wendy.

"Don't you think you deserve a little bit of a break?"

"There'll be plenty of time for a break once the guys and I win this competition," Wendy snapped back. Inching her chair closer towards Stan's, she slid her pile of flashcards over to him. She rested her head in one of her hands against the table, blinking at him with batted eyelashes and hinting at him to begin.

Rolling his eyes at her teasingly, Stan soon conceded pretty quickly as he placed his schoolbag on the floor at his feet and held up the first flashcard for his girlfriend. Wendy carefully studied the card, reading all the jumbled letters and numbers on it as she attempted to solve for 'x'. After a few short seconds, the dark haired girl raised an eyebrow.

"Sixteen?"

Stan almost didn't even bother to check the back of the card, but as he did, a beaming grin automatically flew across his face, "Dude, you're a genius. I don't even know what half the symbols on these cards mean."

Giggling at the sweetness hiding within his bizarre compliment, Wendy shook her head as she scribbled down some more notes in her binder, "Well, that's nothing. Wait until you come and watch me in the actual competition."

Keeping the smile on his face, Stan licked his lips to speak, "When's the first round again?"

"During the first half of lunch."

The very second that the last syllable left her mouth, Stan felt the colour drain from his face.

"...Like, the first half of lunch _today_?"

"Mhm," Wendy answered, not even stopping what she was writing to look up at him.

For a short moment, Stan was silent, suddenly wanting to kick himself. As he placed the pile of flashcards back on the desk, he hesitated for a minute or two, running his hand down his face with regret.

"Wendy... babe, you know I have football practice on Fridays at lunch."

As her frantic scribbles slowly began to trail off and then eventually came to a complete halt, Wendy frowned for a second, shooting her vision up to pierce Stan's. She swallowed back a lump in her throat, "Yeah... I _do_ know that. That's why I warned you about it, like, four weeks ago and asked you to speak to your coach about getting today off."

The memory flooded back to him like a tidal wave crashing down on top of his head and completely filling his lungs. Stan gulped. Crap.

"Did you even talk to him?"

The venom in Wendy's voice forced Stan to stutter over an answer, "I maybe, possibly, just _might_ have... forgotten to mention it to him..."

Scoffing with a shake of her head, Wendy angrily crossed her arms over her chest, "Well, can't you just skip training today?"

"I can't just not show up without giving the team or my coach any notice."

"I _did_ give you notice!"

As hushed as her whispered shouts at him may have been, they were still rapidly gaining Wendy and Stan just a little too much unwanted attention from the other seniors sitting around them in the library.

Glancing down shyly into her lap until all the curious eyes finally turned away, Wendy blew out a long, sad sigh from between her lips. She knew that Stan missing her competition wasn't the complete end of the world, but she still had a right to be upset. Wendy had worked so hard for so long in preparation for the semi-finals, and she wanted more than anything for her boyfriend to be there to support her. But the effort from Stan seemed to be totally misplaced.

Lifting her head back up to look at him again, Wendy lowered the tone in her voice, "I know football is important for college, but you know how much this means to me."

Shuddering within himself at the mere mention of the uncertain, post-graduate world, Stan ran an exhausted hand down his face, "Can we _not_ make this about college, please?"

"Oh, so you just want to make it about how inconsiderate you're being instead?"

The sadness lingering in her deep, brown eyes pinched at Stan's core. Shaking off the daunting thoughts of he and Wendy shipping themselves off to college, the teenage boy nervously scratched the back of his head.

Okay, yes, he had messed up - he absolutely should have spoken to his coach about having that afternoon off from training as soon as Wendy mentioned it to him. But there was genuinely nothing he could do about it now. Stan was the school quarterback, he couldn't afford to miss training. Surely Wendy could understand that. Right?

Lamely shrugging his shoulders as he tried to shoot a smile her way, Stan held in a breath, "I'll make it up to you."

The silence swept back over them like a landslide. Wendy sat glued in her place, her arms still heatedly folded over and her brow still furrowed with all the unimpressed aggression in the world.

In the very next second, Wendy broke free from her solidified state, snatching her bag up from the floor of the library and carelessly shoving her flashcards and all her other belongings into it. Unbelievable.

"You know what, it's fine, whatever," she huffed, standing up from her chair, "Just forget about it."

Feeling his eyes widen at the chaos suddenly taking place all around him, Stan tried to reach for his girlfriend's hand, "Wendy - "

"I said just _leave_ it, Stan," she sniped at him, making her way towards the library's exit, "I think Token's in the gym getting ready. I'm supposed to be studying with him, anyway."

And then, without daring to utter another word, Stan watched as Wendy scurried up the stairs, out of the library and into the school corridor en route to the gym. Hanging his head, the teenage boy growled out loud in frustration with himself.

Was he really going to continue to sit here feeling like an idiot, or was he going to catch up to Wendy and apologise for real?

Resisting the urge to slap himself in the face, Stan came to his feet and made a direct beeline for the hallway that lead down to the gym. Thankfully, the long, dull coloured corridor was reasonably empty. The vast majority of the school's students were all in class, but it wasn't long until Stan bumped into a couple of other seniors enjoying their free Friday afternoon period, too.

At his first glimpse of them, Stan groaned under his breath.

Frowning to himself in surprise as the dark haired boy almost ran right past without even acknowledging them, Kyle stepped in front of Stan and held him back by the arm.

"Whoa, dude, where's the fire?"

On his initial instinct, Stan bit his tongue as he swapped expressions with Kyle Broflovski and Eric Cartman where they stood in the middle of the hallway. He wasn't particularly in the mood for a judgemental lecture from Kyle, and he certainly didn't care to hear any inappropriate joke Cartman had to offer about his current situation with his girlfriend.

Shrugging out of his best friend's grip, Stan mulled over a response for a moment or two before heaving out a breath, "I'm just headed down to the gym. I need to talk to Wendy."

Kyle raised an eyebrow, "The gym? I thought you were helping her study in the library this period?"

"Well, I _was_ ," Stan said, stepping around his friends and rolling his eyes slightly as he heard them following behind him, "Until she decided she wasn't in the mood for my help anymore..."

"Uh oh," Cartman grunted from where he was desperately trying to keep up with Stan and Kyle's quick pace, "Did she finally dump your dumb ass for someone who's just as much of a stuck-up nerd as she is?"

"No," Stan snarled through gritted teeth, "She may have just got a _little_ pissed off at me, that's all."

"Pissed at you for what?" Kyle asked as they finally rounded the last corner before the gym.

"I forgot to ask my coach for this afternoon off, so now I can't go and watch her in the lame Mathletics thing," Stan answered with a hurried explanation, "It's no big deal."

"Uh, it's probably a big deal to her," Kyle argued, "What did she say to you?"

Stan balled his hands into fists in his pockets as the callous tone from Wendy echoed across his mind, "...I believe the exact phrases were "it's fine", "whatever", and "forget about it"."

Laughing to himself as the three of them stepped through the double doors and into the gym, Kyle shook his head back and forth, "Dude, I'm no expert, or anything, but I'm pretty sure those are three things girls say which mean the exact _opposite_ of what they really mean."

Holding down a shudder, Stan remained silent. He hated having to admit when Kyle was right, especially when it came to relationships. Even more so when it came to _his_ relationship.

"We'll be fine," Stan declared nonchalantly.

By now, the rest of the stage had been properly set up for the commencement of the Mathletics competition, and all the seating for the audience had been lined up across the hardwood floor. Weaving between the chairs and the teachers and the other students as Stan scanned the room for Wendy, the teenage boy cleared his throat again.

"All I have to do is find Wendy, tell her how sorry I am, and rattle off some line about how she doesn't need me sitting front row to show everyone how amazing and smart she is, and then - "

As ingenious as he thought his plan was sounding, the blueprints for his scheme suddenly crumpled into an unreadable pile in Stan's mind as his sentence suddenly trailed off. Apparently, Wendy hadn't been able to locate Token as her substitute study buddy, but it certainly seemed like the dark haired girl had found _someone_ to spend the remainder of her free period with.

The sight of Wendy talking and laughing with Gregory again over on the other side of the gym felt like a knife through Stan's gut. If he had known that ditching her math contest was going to push her right back into the presence of her old flame, well then...

"What the hell?" Kyle abruptly spat from over Stan's shoulder, "Is that... that - "

"'Ay, it's that faggy French piece of crap from Garrison's third grade class!" Cartman grunted in over the top of both his friends, "What the hell is he doing here?"

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Stan could feel his stomach beginning to rumble in anger all over again, "He's here for the goddamn Mathletics thing," he answered, "And he's been all over Wendy since the second he fuckin' saw her."

"Why are you getting so mad?" Kyle asked with another small laugh, "Its not like she's gonna' return the favour and be all over him, too."

"Well, yeah, maybe not until I upset her and drove her right into his fucking arms," Stan exclaimed with heavy sarcasm, kicking one of the chairs in front of him in frustration, "What do you think I should do?"

Cartman snorted under his breath, "I think you should get laid one more time before she leaves you for him for good."

Twirling around on the spot so quickly that he could almost feel the furious flames licking at his feet, Stan went nose-to-nose with Cartman and prodded him in the chest, "And _I_ think you should shut the fuck up before I jam my fist down your fat fucking - "

"Whoa, whoa, guys!"

Leaping in right before Stan was able to rip Cartman's intestines out through his throat, the sudden sound of a fourth voice caused all three boys to glance around behind them.

"Dude, what's with all the hostility?"

As he carelessly swept his messy blonde mop of hair out of his eyes, Kenny narrowed his hazel vision at Stan in confusion.

The final member of their ever-lasting foursome had been rather preoccupied during that day at school - but not for the reason that anyone might have suspected. Kenny had volunteered to work behind the scenes and up in the rafters for the Mathletics semi-finals, rigging the lighting and manning the rest of the tech equipment.

It may have been just slightly against his normal character, but if it meant designated time off class and the chance to earn the extra credit he was severely lacking leading into graduation, then Kenny was all for it.

Focusing back on the issue at hand, the middle McCormick readjusted the rolled up lighting cord on his shoulder and raised an impatient eyebrow at Stan.

Rolling his eyes at the thought of having to explain himself for a second time, Stan merely grumbled under his breath and gestured across to the other side of the gym. Following his friend's reluctant glance, Kenny's expression soon widened in surprise at what he saw.

"Hey, I remember that posh little prick," Kenny commented with a snigger before turning back to Stan, "What the hell's going on there?"

Stan huffed out in near defeat, "I don't exactly know," he admitted, "But I'm sure as hell gonna' find a way to put an end to it."

Swapping a nervous glimpse with one another, Kyle and Kenny subtly shook their heads. Stan couldn't really be credited for the skills he held in making up with Wendy after an argument. More than often than not, the teenage boy always managed to complain about missing her just enough for his girlfriend to eventually come around without exactly receiving a proper apology from him. Either that, or Stan would simply end up pulling some stupid stunt to try and win her back. But, luckily enough for both he and Wendy, any such scheme was yet to develop in his mind.

"Hey, how's about you totally sabotage him during the nerdy math contest thingy?" Cartman suddenly burst with laughter from where he stood behind Stan.

Kyle and Kenny immediately felt their expressions drop. That sure was nice while it lasted.

"What?" they spat in unison.

"Yeah, think about it, you guys," Cartman continued to ramble along, directing all his attention towards Stan, "Kenny's gonna' be up in the rafters, he could drench him in something totally fucking disgusting, or even drop one of those heavy lights right on top of his faggy, blonde head, it'll be fucking hilarious!"

"No!" the green-hatted boy and his blonde friend found themselves crying out loud together again.

Taking the lead, Kyle spun Stan back around to face him, "You're not seriously considering this, are you?"

"Yeah, dude," Kenny agreed, "I can't afford to get busted for messing up. I don't have any extra credit from any clubs or groups or sporting teams, and I am _not_ gonna' be held back a grade like my loser brother was."

"Not only that, but if you think Wendy's pissed at you now, she will _destroy_ you if you ruin this Mathletics competition."

Flicking his wide blue eyes back and forth between the two desperate arguments from his two best friends, Stan felt his head begin to spin slightly. He supposed both Kyle and Kenny had a point. He didn't want to land any of his friends in trouble because of of his own dumb issues with Gregory, and he _definitely_ didn't want to upset Wendy any more than he already had.

But then, on the other hand, as he felt his heart sink at the sight of the two old friends still chatting away where he could see them between the shoulders of Kyle and Kenny, Stan shook his head.

This was still his school, and Wendy was still his girlfriend. Gregory had to be shown that he couldn't just march right back into South Park and act like he never left.

"Aw, come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Stan asked.

"Killing him if you drop a stage light on his head?" Kenny quickly snapped back.

"Okay, obviously I'm not considering _that_ suggestion," the dark haired boy argued, "But you seriously don't think its gonna' be even a _little_ bit worth it to see him completely humiliated in front of everyone?"

Watching on as his best friend stood firmly aligned with Cartman, Kyle frowned in disbelief. They soon found each other's glance, locking their eyes together tight as Stan read the appearance of clear disapproval spread across Kyle's face.

Taking the obvious hint, the quarterback looked back to his friend in the tattered jeans and orange t-shirt, "Kenny?"

For a split second, Kenny felt completely torn. On any other day in any other circumstance, the blonde boy would be right by Stan's side causing just as much mischief as him, if not more so. But Kenny wasn't an idiot. He knew that now more than ever, he really needed to stay out of trouble.

Sensing the reluctance in his friend's frown, Stan stuck out his bottom lip with a pout, "Come on, dude, he even kissed her."

Kenny's jaw dropped, "He _what_?"

"...Okay, maybe it was only on the hand," Stan stuttered out after some slim hesitation, "But, still! I can't just sit back and let him pull that sort of shit, I've gotta' teach him some kind of lesson."

Shifting his vision between the evil sense of eagerness sitting in Cartman's eyes and the pleading desperation in Stan's, Kenny tried to resist his own wicked temptations as they quickly began to creep up on him. In a last ditch effort to keep his destructive habits in check, Kenny snapped his neck back around to stare at Kyle.

But, after only a few more seconds of deep thought, it was absolutely no use.

Groaning out loud with unashamed annoyance at caving into his friend's demands, Kenny spun around on the spot and joined Stan and Cartman where they stood beside one another with their arms crossed.

A small smile of triumph swept across Stan's lips. He knew that the loyalty shared between he and Kenny was strong enough to thwart any other opposing factors that stood. And as the three of them began to make their way back out of the gym as an unwavering, rock solid unit, Stan knew deep, _deep_ down that the exact same thing could be said about Kyle.

Glancing back at his best friend with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, Stan smirked at the red-headed boy, "C'mon, dude, you know you don't want to miss out on the chance to prove me wrong if this all turns to shit."

"Yeah, Negative Nancy, hurry up and get your conniving, Jewish ass over here!"

While the taunt from Cartman certainly wasn't helping his decision in even the slightest, Kyle could only grumble under his breath as he eventually rolled his eyes again. Stan may have been talking a lot of crap in the last five minutes, but his best friend was definitely right about one thing.

And that was the fact that Kyle sure as hell wasn't going to avoid any opportunity to watch Stan completely screw himself over.

"Oh, he is _so_ going to regret this..."

 _-x-_


	2. Part II

_**Me Plus You.  
**_ _Part II_

 _-x-_

Flattening out her polo shirt as she adjusted the waist band of her black skirt, Wendy blew out a slow breath from between her lips.

The backstage area behind the gym was abuzz with excited jitters as Wendy twirled around on the spot, fixing her hair as she did. She feigned a cheeky smirk at the sight of Butters and Dougie sitting together in a bundle of nerves, while Token appeared just as cool, calm and collected as she was.

The first contest of the semi-finals was just about to commence. It was now or never.

Swapping a confident grin with Token, Wendy soon went back to pacing behind the stage as she waited for her team's cue. At the sound of some extra footsteps suddenly approaching her, Wendy shifted her vision upwards and smiled softly at Gregory.

The tall, blonde boy straightened his embroidered tie as he exchanged the gesture, "I must say, Wendy, I was rather impressed with the the lunch provided by your school catering staff," he offered before raising an eyebrow, "But only _one_ option for dessert?"

Trying her hardest not to roll her eyes at his brash smugness, Wendy gritted her teeth together, "Ha, yeah, sorry about that, I guess..."

It might have been a little nice at first to see him again after so many years, but man, the novelty was quickly starting to wear off for Wendy. It was clear that Gregory hadn't changed - not in the slightest.

As he continued to ramble along about each of the concerns he had come across while Wendy had been showing him around South Park High, little did either of them know, there was something of a much, _much_ greater concern taking place in the rafters right above their heads.

Kenny gazed down with trepidation at the wooden floor of the stage. It was so dark that he could barely even see. He could only just make out each of the four-person podiums that were set up front and centre, awaiting South Park and Yardale to take their places and begin the first round of afternoon competition.

The blonde boy suddenly found himself jumping with slim surprise as he heard a clanging sound echo from beside him. Furrowing his brow at Stan as he appeared on the darkened platform, Kenny's expression quickly turned to one of confusion as he narrowed his eyes at the deep, metal tray in his friend's hands that had caused so much noise.

"And I here I was thinking you'd actually found some common sense and decided not to go through with this," he quipped cynically, "What _is_ that?"

Huffing out in slight exhaustion as he heaved the tray up on the railing by the stage lights, Stan smirked at Kenny, "This, my friend, is revenge."

The contents of the rectangular piece of metal seemed to jiggle slightly, causing Kenny's curious frown to deepen. Daringly sticking a finger into the depths of the container, the teenage boy squirmed slightly at the peculiar sensation.

Rolling his eyes at his friend, Stan swatted Kenny's hand away, "Relax, dude, it's only jell-o."

Kenny took a second to search Stan's expression for any hint of sarcasm before he decided that he trusted him enough to lick his fingers clean of the sticky substance. It certainly tasted like jell-o. Raspberry jell-o, in fact - sure to stain Gregory's nice, white dress shirt under his maroon blazer.

"And can I ask _where_ exactly you managed to find an ten pound tub of jell-o?"

"I took it from the dessert table set up in the cafeteria before all those other schools had the chance to eat it," Stan answered simply, "Now, all you have to do is wait until they announce Yardale and introduce all their team members. As soon as you hear that faggy little dipshit's name, tip it down onto the stage right... about... here."

Kenny watched on with one eyebrow raised as Stan awkwardly tried to line up the tray of jell-o with some kind of bizarre precision, "Dude, it's too dark for me to even see down there, how do you know that's where he'll be standing?"

"Because, dude, I managed to subtly ask Butters what side of the stage he and Wendy are gonna' be on without giving anything away. He said South Park always stands on the left-hand side," Stan explained as he continued to prop the heavy tray up on the railing towards the right of the stage.

Producing some subtly of his own, Kenny quietly blew out a long, unimpressed breath, "And you can't just stay up here and pull off this stupid stunt yourself, because...?"

" _Because_ , I'm not going to miss out on seeing it for myself down at the back of the audience," Stan answered with a chuckle of anticipation, "Now _that_ is a real reason to skip football practice."

Finishing his thought and gawking back over to Kenny, Stan was expecting to see him just as enthused by their scheme as he was. But as he only caught a wary glisten in his friend's hazel eyes, the quarterback's expression drooped slightly. Allowing his shoulders to slouch into a shrug, Stan's brow crinkled in hesitation. He knew his chances of landing Kenny in hot water from the harmless prank were pretty high. As much as he wanted to get back at Gregory for his smug and snobbish attitude, he honestly didn't want Kenny to have to take the fall for him.

Sighing to himself, Stan shot Kenny a small grin, "Look, if you get busted, you can blame me, okay? I'll take whatever punishment any of the teachers want to hand out," he promised him, "It's gonna' be totally worth it."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kenny mumbled, brushing off the offer, "You're gonna' be in more than enough shit with Wendy if she finds out you had anything to do with it. I'm pretty sure I can handle anything the teachers wanna' do to me..."

Before any further hushed words could be swapped between the two, the static sound of the microphone down on the stage switching on reverberated through the rafters as Ms. Coleman began to welcome the parents and students in the audience. Stan's eyes widened as he quickly slid the metal tray over towards Kenny. The blonde boy took a firm hold of the container, gesturing for Stan to hurry up and climb back down to the floor. The two swapped a final, small smirk before Stan scurried off to the backstage area and then swiftly sneaked out into the main area of the gym.

The teenage boy kept his head down, blending in with the rest of the crowd as they applauded the two teams that were just making their way onto the stage. He looked up slightly, smiling at Kyle and Cartman where they stood way down at the very back of the gym behind the last row of chairs.

Kyle still appeared just as uncertain about the entire ordeal as he shook his head back and forth, "You really think you're gonna' get away with this?" he asked, "With Wendy, I mean? She's gonna' tear you limb from limb way worse than any of the teachers will..."

"Oh, please," Cartman grunted, "Stan can take that weak, little bitch of his any day."

Frowning at the fatter of his two friends and sharply jabbing Cartman in the ribs, Stan could only cross his arms over his chest with pride as he finally joined the two of them.

"Wendy's not going to suspect a thing," Stan confirmed, "As far as she knows, I'm at football - "

Just as the sentence was almost completely out of his mouth, Stan found himself trailing off with sudden horror. His blue eyes expanded to the size of saucers as he finally stole a glance at the stage. Both teams were standing at their podiums, but there was just one major problem.

Yardale was standing in the clear, and South Park were planted directly under the incoming raspberry flavoured shower.

Feeling his heart stop beating and collapse into the depths of his stomach with a dull thud, Stan almost choked on his next frantic words, "What the fuck?!" he hissed silently from the back of the gym, "What the hell are they doing, Butters said that South Park would be standing on the _other_ side!"

Thrown off slightly by his sudden outburst, Kyle tilted his head with confusion, "Why would it matter what side they're standing..."

And then, it all clicked.

"Oh, shit," Kyle murmured.

"Oh, tits!" Cartman added with excitement.

"God fucking damn it!" Stan cursed, grumbling in a panicked tone.

Without sparing another second, the eighteen year old boy squeaked the bottom of his runners across the floor of the gym as he took off towards the stage, weaving his way between the seats and nudging into members of the audience as he did.

His heart was pounding in his chest. The only thought racing through his mind at that point was telling him to make it to the front of the gym, leap up onto the stage, burst through the curtain and scream up at Kenny to hold his fire. But the closer he got, and the more of Ms. Coleman's introduction he heard, and the more he gazed at his girlfriend up on stage - Stan knew it was no use. He felt his sternum ache with pain. Wendy looked so happy. She looked so proud of herself.

And in the very next second, Ms. Coleman completed introducing the Yardale team by saying Gregory's name.

The jam-packed audience sucked in a collective gasp and screeched to an immediate silence as the red, sticky contents of the metal tray from above the stage came plummeting down onto its victims below. Stan scraped along to a sudden stop where he stood in the middle of the gym and off towards the side door.

A high-pitched shriek was unmistakable from Wendy as it expelled from the back of her throat. But, thankfully, the surprised sound was all that managed to escape the dark haired girl as the majority of the God forsaken jell-o landed towards the middle of South Park's podium - coating a totally aghast Token and Butters from almost head to toe.

As the crowd finally started to find their voice again and shocked sounding murmurs began to grow in volume throughout the gym, Ms. Coleman cleared her throat into the microphone, "Um, alright! Alright, everyone, uh, it seems we will be postponing the first round of competition," she spoke lamely, "If everyone could please remain calm, and if our two teams could return backstage, we _will_ be getting to the bottom of this apparent prank, immediately!"

The amused expressions on the faces of the Yardale boys could not be hidden as Wendy glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at Gregory. Luckily the teenage girl had only suffered from slight splatters of jell-o as she tried to wipe the substance off her shirt and flick the disgusting pieces out of her matted, black hair. Her steps were weighted with heavy anger as she made her way backstage and glanced up into the rafters where the mass of dessert had fallen from.

And then, as she spotted a very guilty looking Kenny scaling his way down the ladder from the ceiling, Wendy felt her blood boil.

As the blonde boy came safely back down to the floor, he completely ignored the teenage girl and instead made a direct beeline for Butters. Kenny towered over the slightly shorter boy, grabbing him by his red, sticky collar threateningly, "Butters, what the hell, man? You said South Park always stands on the left!"

"Y-yeah," Butters answered, "We do stand on the left. _Stage_ left!"

As Wendy watched on with peaked interest, she was almost distracted by the sound of Gregory approaching her from behind as she suddenly witnessed Kenny's expression turn a pale white.

"Oh, goddamn it," she heard him grunt through gritted teeth, "Stan is gonna' kill me..."

At the sound of the absolute last name she was expecting to hear in that situation, Wendy's heart skipped a sad, disappointed beat.

Taking a moment to piece together the puzzle laid out before her, Wendy nudged past Gregory and pulled the stage curtain back slightly, taking a subtle peek back out to the floor. Her stomach turned with an annoyed anger at the sight of Kyle and Cartman quickly scurrying to Stan's side before ushering him out through the side door of the gym and into the school corridor.

And then, at the very last possible second as he glanced back up at the stage, Wendy's eyes locked with Stan's.

Screwing her fist up into an agitated ball, Wendy hissed under her breath, her mind cycling back to what Kenny had just said to Butters, "Not if I kill him, first..."

The alluring sound of her threat made a small smirk pop up in the corner of Gregory's mouth. The tall, blonde Yardale boy wasn't stupid. He knew Stan's prank had obviously been meant for him. But just as had happened when they were eight years old, Stan had simply let his insane jealousy come in the way of him thinking concisely and clearly.

"Well," Gregory spat with a chuckle before Wendy could climb off the stage, "It seems your little _boy_ friend is still just exactly that, isn't he? I can't say I'm surprised that he still hasn't learned not to send a boy to do a man's job."

Just as she descended the first step to the floor, Wendy froze on the spot. Her memory was ticking over as she slowly spun back around and glared at Gregory. The same vile, belittling words that he had muttered about her boyfriend all those years ago stung as harshly in her chest now as they did back then. Stan might have been an immature idiot, but he was _her_ immature idiot. And she was the only one who could insult him as such.

"Oh, just fuck off Gregory, you pompous piece of shit."

Leaving the boy opposite her completely gobsmacked and without anything else to say, Wendy didn't wait a second longer as she marched down the rest of the stairs and bolted out of the same side door in search of her boyfriend and his cohorts.

Reaching back and ripping her jell-o covered, green ribbon out of her hair, Wendy scrunched it up with fury and threw it the floor. Her vengeful anger directed at Gregory was only the very tip of the iceberg when it came to what she was going to do to Stan.

* * *

As his feet slapped down hard and heavy against the tiled floor of the school halls, Stan suddenly felt himself choke on the collar of his shirt as Kyle yanked him through the open door of a classroom.

The eighteen year old's heart was on the verge of exploding from running so quickly. He glanced between the four empty walls of the room, and then finally at his two friends. Lunch had to have started around fifteen minutes ago now, and luckily for the boys, it seemed all the other teachers and students were far away from the school classrooms enjoying their break outside somewhere.

By this point, Stan was just about prepared to hide out the empty room, under a desk, in a cupboard, or wherever possible to avoid Wendy for as long as he could.

Being the first to speak, Cartman grunted out a loud chuckle, "Ha! Well, I guess that could have been a lot worse if it had landed right on Wendy's prissy little head."

Stan rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, he was suddenly cut off by Kyle, "Oh, yeah, I'm sure that's gonna' make Wendy much less angry at you - she'll be _super_ understanding."

"Yeah, okay, Kyle, I get it already," Stan sniped at his best friend and his cynical tone, "She's gonna' kill me... I'm pretty sure she saw me right before we got out of there..."

"Well, you know what _I_ saw?" Kyle spoke, carrying right along, "Just as we escaped out the side door, I saw Ms. Coleman talking to Kenny up on the stage and totally going off her brain at him! Not only did you let your dumb jealousy get in the way of your relationship - _again_ , but you also landed Kenny in some deep shit, dude!"

"Will you just keep your voice down?" Stan hissed in the lowest volume possible, "The last fuckin' thing I want is for Wendy to run by and hear us and then burst in here and - "

"Stanley!"

Before the terrifying thought had even completely left his lips, the back and forth shouting between Stan and Kyle shattered into speechlessness at the sound of Wendy appearing in the doorway and screeching her boyfriend's full name. Nervously allowing his timid eyes to creep up and land on her, the teenage boy swallowed a lump in the back of his throat.

If looks could kill, Stan would be a dead man right now.

Wendy stood with her fists screwed up into balls on either side of her, and her brown coloured eyes were glowing a furiously dark shade with the fire that had lit up behind them. As she took a further step into the classroom, the teenage girl flicked her head over towards Kyle and Cartman, "You two, out," she demanded, pointing to the door.

Carefully licking his bottom lip, Kyle tried to force a gentle smile, "Come on, Wendy, he clearly wasn't working along, you don't need to be so hard on - "

" _Now._ "

As their expressions dropped cold from their faces, Kyle wasted little time simply patting Stan on the back and making a direct beeline for the door, "Cya' dude."

"Nice knowing you, Stan," Cartman added as he was hot on Kyle's heels.

Cringing at his friends' sarcasm and utter lack of support, Stan's eyes absolutely refused to leave the ground. He scuffed one shoe against the other, waiting anxiously to hear Wendy's voice again once Kyle and Cartman were gone and had shut the door behind them.

Heaving a long breath from the depths of her lungs and taking a moment to keep her cool, Wendy parted her lips to speak.

"Stan, sit down."

Shyly glancing up at her, Stan cleared his throat, "Baby - "

" _Sit. Down._ "

Springing backwards in surprise as he felt himself crash into a table and chair, Stan quickly collapsed down into it. He sat in the seat sideways with his legs parallel to the desk as he gulped. Wendy paced back and forth in front of him, hesitating and gathering her thoughts. She ran he fingers through her black ponytail, trying her very best to scrape out the remainder of the sticky, red dessert as she soon figured out exactly what she wanted to say to her boyfriend.

"So, you _won't_ skip football practice to come and support me in something super important to me," she began, "But you _will_ skip football practice to totally sabotage something super important to me?"

The dull pain splintering in her voice box left Stan completely mute as he lamely shrugged his shoulders.

Wendy scoffed, "Were you trying to completely humiliate me up there?"

"No!" Stan snapped back in reply, "No, not you, just... him..."

The eighteen year old girl chuckled in disbelief at the weakness in her boyfriend's reply, "Gregory?" she asked, "Are you seriously that insecure that you don't even believe me when I tell you I have _zero_ interest in him?"

For a swift moment in time, Stan felt his skin crawl. He quite frankly would have much preferred to hear Wendy yell and scream at him rather than her being so patronising.

"Okay, so maybe you're not interested in _him_ , but that obviously wasn't going to stop him from coming onto you, and it's not gonna' stop any other guy from ever doing the same thing!" Stan argued, his voice creeping up little by little as he did, "There's a thousand other guys out there in the world just like him. Guys that are smart, guys that laugh at the same jokes you do, guys that like the same things you do."

As he continued to ramble on and Wendy could hear his voice becoming slightly raspy at the thought of the words he was spewing, she felt her stern expression soften. A concerned crease fell into her brow as she watched the sad emotions settle more into Stan's face.

The teenage boy blew out a shaken breath, "He's a million and one things that I'm not. I'm not an idiot, Wendy, I know it's only a matter of time before you find someone just like him and forget all about me..."

Wendy instantly felt her heart split in two.

She had absolutely no idea that Stan's jealousy ran this deep. And yet, hearing every single word he was saying now, it didn't even sound so much like _jealousy_ any more. Stan sounded like he was scared - like he was in total fear of losing Wendy someday. Where the heck had all these twisted, crazy thoughts suddenly come from?

And then, Wendy felt her brain switched on like a light bulb.

It was only two periods ago when Wendy and Stan had been sitting in the library together - back when their stupid little fight had started. And as it had, the teenage girl could have sworn that they were arguing about football, or about Mathletics, or about who was more supportive of who. But now, Wendy could see all too clearly what was really making Stan act so paranoid and so dismal. And she was almost certain it had something to do with just _one_ other topic of conversation that she had offhandedly mentioned to him in fifth period.

Chewing down on her bottom lip, Wendy carefully thought over her next words before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Are we still talking about Gregory? Or... are you thinking ahead to college again?"

The sound of that accursed 'C' word leaving her mouth made Stan shudder.

For as long as the teenage boy could remember, the only thing in his whole world that held any importance to him was the path that would lead him to football and a scholarship and success. But now, nothing was more important than Wendy. And he didn't want to walk that path if it meant she couldn't be strolling along by his side.

There was only one thing worse than her not being there beside him at all. And that was Wendy getting lost and distracted along the way by some other guy.

Swallowing down these thoughts as they continued to choke him in his throat, Stan awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"It's just..." he paused for a moment, "You're gonna' end up at Harvard, or Yale, or Princeton, and... and guys like Gregory just remind me that chances are, you're gonna' meet somebody who's exactly like him and nothing like me."

Trying to resist the painful feeling of her fragmented heart piercing her chest, Wendy took a deep breath and slowly shook her head at Stan. And then, she could only heave her shoulders in a shrug.

"You're right."

The two, simple syllables were like a knife through each of Stan's organs. He felt his jaw drop slightly as he skidded into a stunned silence. He knew that Wendy was going to be angry with him after pulling such a stupid prank, but never in a thousand years was he ever expecting to hear her agree with him and his heart-breaking predictions for their future.

Watching the devastation fall into his face, Wendy carried right along.

"You're immature, reckless, insecure, you have zero impulse control...!"

She could have kept going for the length of an entire novel. There were a million and one things about Stan that annoyed Wendy. And maybe there really was someone else out there who was a better match for her. And maybe they really weren't going to stay together forever.

But, at the end of the day, she wouldn't change any part of him - not a single thing. And for as long as Wendy and Stan were together, that was the only forever the teenage girl needed.

Finally, she smiled at him teasingly.

"But that's why I fell in love with you, dumbie."

Instantly, Stan was floored as he nearly fell out of his seat, "Huh?"

Gazing down at him and trying her absolute hardest not to giggle at the adorable confusion dancing in his gorgeous, blue eyes, Wendy slipped back into a slim hesitation.

She might have entered the classroom with all guns blazing, but Wendy simply couldn't stand it when Stan was so miserable. The only thing she hated more than seeing him so filled with fear was knowing that she wasn't doing anything to make him feel better.

Hanging her head back with a loud, annoyed groan, Wendy took a small step towards Stan. If there was one other thing she absolutely hated, it was being the one to cave first when she knew full well that he was _way_ more in the wrong than she was. But still, as the teenage girl took a seat in her boyfriend's lap where he sat sideways in the desk and gently locked her fingers behind his neck, she felt Stan's skin tingle with pleasant surprise.

Wendy paused in thought for only a second longer.

"Who was your first kiss when you were just eight years old?"

Stan was still feeling slightly baffled as he quietly answered Wendy's question, "You."

"And who was _my_ first kiss when I was eight?"

The teenage boy swallowed, feeling goosebumps pop up over his arms. Ten years had gone by, and still, he couldn't believe the answer to that question to be true, "Me."

"And who else was also lurking around at the same time desperately trying to win my affections?"

"...Gregory."

"And I chose you," Wendy exclaimed, tenderly cupping Stan's face with her hands as she stroked his cheek, "No matter how old we get, or who else might be trying to steal me away, I'll always choose you."

The most pure sense of happiness went rushing through Stan's core as Wendy let go of his face and gently wisped the longer of his black locks away from his forehead.

She smirked at him with a serious glisten in her eyes, "Don't give me a reason not to, okay?"

With the message finally received loud and clear, Stan quickly nodded his head. He brought his voice to the most timid whisper, a slight sadness still pricking at his throat, "I'm sorry."

As she continued to grin at him cheekily, Wendy could almost feel the desperation pouring from Stan at the thought of pulling her into a tight hug. Despite the random splatters of jell-o that still clung to her shirt, the dark haired girl wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and pulled him close, comfortingly rubbing his back. Her heart raced at the sensation of him holding her just as snugly, absolutely squeezing the life out of her.

She never wanted to be this close to anyone else again for as long as she lived.

"You're not the only one who's worried about the future, you know," Wendy gently confessed.

Frowning at her curious words, Stan loosened his grip on Wendy and held her out at arm's length in his lap, narrowing his eyes at her, "What do you mean?"

Wendy licked her bottom lip, a little unsure of herself, "Well, you're gonna' be, like, insanely busy with football all through college, and there's probably gonna' heaps of super athletic girls at your school who love sports and beer as much as you do, and - "

"Wendy," Stan spoke, cutting her off with a shake of his head, "I could never love any one else as much as I love you."

Feigning a pink blush in her cheeks, Wendy took Stan's hand in hers and squeezed tightly, "I know. And ditto," she quickly added with a giggle, "You just need to know the same goes for me, too."

Remaining deathly silent as his eyes stayed fastened with hers, Stan quietly nodded his head in instant agreement.

As he continued to stare at her with an adorably apologetic glisten in his blue orbs, Wendy bit down just slightly on her lip. She might have still been incredibly annoyed at him for pulling an idiotic stunt like he had, but she simply couldn't resist the butterflies tickling her tummy any longer.

Taking her hand away from his, she allowed both sets of her manicured fingertips to run through the ends of Stan's raven locks sticking out from the back of his beanie as she pressed her kiss into his. The enticing taste of his lips did a pretty remarkable job of quelling all her angry emotions as she felt him gently lap at her with all the affection in the world.

As Stan slinked his arms around Wendy's slender waist, he brought her closer to him where the two were awkwardly nestled into the classroom desk. The sensation of her kiss only felt more unbelievable each and every time he shared it with her. For a split second, the two innocently opened their mouths and indulged in a deeper taste of one another. The silence of the empty classroom was pure bliss as all Wendy and Stan could hear were their own desperate breaths and the intense beating of their hearts until they finally parted.

Keeping her eyes closed for a second longer, Wendy giggled quietly to herself once more as she felt Stan squeeze lovingly at her hips and peck the very end of her nose. God, he was amazing.

But still, as her eyes suddenly snapped open and her appearance quickly turned to a frown, Wendy pulled a fist back and punched Stan in the arm as hard as she could.

"But you are still _so_ in trouble!" she thundered with a laugh.

Taking his opposite hand to the immediate pain shooting up his left arm, Stan hissed through his teeth, "Ow, dude!"

Wendy simply crossed her own arms over her chest, sticking her tongue out at him, "You'd better start thinking of how you're gonna' make this up to me."

Shaking his head at her in disbelief, Stan tried to hold a stern expression for as long as he could. But soon enough, as he matched Wendy's sweet smirk, it was absolutely no use. Playfully nudging his girlfriend out of his lap, Stan came to his feet and glared down at her, "Your mean right-hook doesn't make us even?"

"Oh, not even close," Wendy said, still laughing deeply from the back of her throat, "If your stupid plan had actually gone off without a hitch, you could have gotten me and the guys disqualified!"

Glancing back down at his feet, Stan swallowed a lump of guilt. Wendy's conflicting emotions were certainly starting to send him into a head spin, but he completely understood where she was coming from. Even though she didn't want her boyfriend to be miserable and scared for their future, it didn't mean she couldn't still be furious with him in the present.

But, at the same time, it also didn't mean that she hadn't already forgiven him. And that she didn't love him.

Pinching the very end of his chin between her thumb and her forefinger, Wendy tilted Stan's sad little face back up and smiled at him sweetly, "But seeing as we haven't been kicked out and the competition's probably just been postponed, you can start the long, _long_ road of repaying me by helping me study in the library every day at lunch until the organisers find a time to reschedule."

Scrunching up his sarcastic nose at her, Stan soon blew out a soft sigh of relief as Wendy reached down for his hand and gently took it in her own. Twirling around on her heels, the teenage girl began to lead the two of them out of the empty classroom and back into the school halls.

As he awkwardly adjusted the back of his beanie, Stan cleared his throat to speak, "Uh, and when exactly do these study sessions start?"

Wendy looked back over her shoulder at him, narrowing her cynical, brown orbs, "It's lunch time now, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah... but I was kinda' gonna' head back down to the gym to talk to Ms. Coleman and get Kenny off the hook," Stan responded, trailing off for a second as he rolled his eyes with reluctance, " _And_ I suppose I could apologise to Gregory, as well..."

Freezing on the spot as she went to reach for the door handle, Wendy turned her head up to look back at Stan. Her eyes widened with... well, _surprise_ was an understatement. Stan's genuine attempts to act upon what she had only seconds ago finished telling him and show some real remorse for his actions made the teenage girl's heart flutter.

"That's very mature of you," she sang sweetly, finally pulling down the handle and passing through the classroom door, " _But_ , if you apologise for yourself, you'd probably have to apologise for me, too, and there is _no_ way I'm saying sorry to that cocksucking turd."

Feeling his jaw drop open at the sudden crudeness spewing from Wendy's lips, Stan stuttered over the start of a sentence. He kept a tight hold of her hand, yanking her back as he reeled her in towards him, "What?" he asked with a laugh, "What did you say to him? Did you tell him to go fuck himself in another obscure part of his body?"

"No!" Wendy spat with a giggle, coaxing her boyfriend to walk down the hall with her, "I'm not as creative as I was when we were kids. I just made sure he knew that I'm the only one who's allowed to insult you when you're being an idiot - no-one else."

Sniggering under his breath at her, Stan rolled his eyes again, "Well, uh, thank you, I think?"

Wendy tried to hold down a giggle as she lightly slapped her boyfriend in the arm. Normally, Stan's bad habit of adding an extra hint of sarcasm to his apologies would never successfully help him plead his case. But, for some odd reason, Wendy simply ignored his smart-alec nature and kept her fingers firmly laced together with his.

"What you _can_ thank me for is for not totally kicking your ass this afternoon! And you can do that by taking me shopping at the mall after school," she told him, obviously not wanting to be mistaken for asking a question or making a simple suggestion.

Keeping the teasing tone in his voice, Stan smirked down at his girlfriend, "I'm probably gonna' be in detention, dude."

As his face remained level with hers for a perhaps a second too long, Wendy felt an intense, red blush fill her cheeks. Man, she was hopeless. Wendy was supposed to be absolutely fuming with the inconsiderate jerk holding onto her hand, but all she could think about was how heart-broken he had been at the thought of losing her. And all she could feel was her skin tingling with goosebumps at his playful, goofball behaviour.

It didn't matter how badly he ever accidentally messed up. She was stuck with him. Wendy knew it.

Their footsteps were in perfect time with one another's the closer they got towards the gym - not unlike their heartbeats that were racing along together in heated unison. There was still _one_ other idea of how Stan could repay her that Wendy was holding onto. And as she raised a daring eyebrow and suddenly used her free hand to grab onto the belt loop of her boyfriend's jeans, she pulled his hips in towards her's, lowering her voice seductively into the empty hallway.

"Well, I'm sure you can think of some way to make all this up to me _tonight_ then, hm?"

Instantly sensing all colour drain from his face, Stan's mouth went dry so quickly and so harshly that he couldn't even muster a response. Still giggling away his at adorable bewilderment, Wendy stood up on her toes and pecked at Stan's lips just once more before finally letting go of his hand and darting her way into the jell-o covered gym.

As he brought his fingertips up to his lips where Wendy's had just been, Stan swallowed a hard lump in his throat and slowly shook his head back and forth. He wasn't entirely sure how this disaster of a Friday afternoon ended with him being teased and tempted so sensually, but he sure as hell wasn't going to question it.

Stan was almost certain that he could convince Wendy to let him get away with murder if he really wanted to. But that didn't mean that he was willing for even a second to take for granted how much she loved him. All he wanted to focus on now was putting into action everything she had asked him to.

He was never going to doubt their relationship ever again. And he would never purposely let her down again, either.

Taking a first step towards the gym and towards whatever fateful punishment was awaiting him, Stan smirked to himself. The only reward greater than the one he was sure to receive from his beautiful girlfriend that night, was the reward of eventually getting to sit front row and supportively cheer Wendy on in her Mathletics competition. No matter _what_ day it was rescheduled for.

 _ **End.**_

 _-x-_


End file.
